AUTOMAKERS
US deal creates barriers
Unions at South Korea’s two largest automakers, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, say plans to revise a free-trade deal with the US involve concessions that would prevent local automakers from entering the fast-growing US pick-up truck market. Hyundai’s labor union yesterday said that the South Korean government gave in to US President Donald Trump at a time when the US market represents big opportunities. Kia’s labor union said it shares that view. Hyundai said in a statement that it hoped the two governments would work together to defuse trade tensions. South Korea and the US agreed to push back the earlier agreed-to elimination of import tariffs on pick-up trucks by 20 years to 2041.
CHEMICALS
Akzo Nobel to sell unit
Akzo Nobel NV is selling its specialty chemicals unit to US private equity firm Carlyle Group for 10.1 billion euros (US$12.5 billion) in a deal set to transform the Dutch company into a supplier of paints and coatings, chief executive officer Thierry Vanlancker said yesterday. Carlyle and Singapore sovereign-wealth partner GIC edged out rivals by agreeing to keep the business intact and giving assurances on workers’ salaries and benefits. “Different bids had different dimensions,” Vanlancker said. “Carlyle saw it as a strong business as a whole.” The sale caps a turbulent period for the Dutch manufacturer marked by a US$29 billion hostile takeover attempt last year by rival PPG Industries Inc and the attention of activist investor Elliott Management. Vanlancker, who sought to keep Akzo Nobel’s future in its own hands, will now have to make good on ambitious financial targets set for 2020.
RETAIL
Amazon targets France
Amazon.com Inc is taking aim at France, securing a delivery deal in Paris with Casino Guichard Perrachon SA that shakes up one of Europe’s most competitive grocery markets. Items from Casino’s Monoprix stores are to be sold via the Amazon Prime Now app in the French capital and the surrounding region, the companies said on Monday. The move comes as Amazon pushes further into the food business in Europe and as price competition among Casino, Carrefour SA and family-owned Leclerc heats up in France. Casino’s deal with Amazon is a “very defensive move,” aimed at protecting Monoprix from Leclerc, Fabienne Caron, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux, said in a note to clients.
BANKING
Deutsche Bank tensions rise
Deutsche Bank AG is considering candidates to potentially replace chief executive officer John Cryan amid heightened tensions between him and Supervisory Board chairman Paul Achleitner, the Times of London reported without saying where it got the information. The bank approached Richard Gnodde, the head of Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s international operations, but he is thought to have spurned the overture, the newspaper said. Deutsche Bank also considered UniCredit SpA CEO Jean Pierre Mustier and Standard Chartered PLC CEO Bill Winters, according to the report. “Cryan may be a good person, but he’s not the right guy on top of Deutsche Bank,” said Stefan Mueller, CEO of the German Institute for Asset and Equity Allocation and Valuation in an interview with Bloomberg TV. Still, “I think the main problem at Deutsche Bank is Paul Achleitner, he implemented all these CEOs in the last years.”
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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